Amy Forsyth-Stephens, who has headed the Mental Health Association of the New River Valley for the past 14 years and the Free Clinic of the New River Valley for the past two, will resign as executive director of the nonprofit service agencies effective Feb. 29.

"I've taken another job. It's a step up. I'm very excited about it," Forsyth-Stephens said Tuesday.

"This is a good move for me. It's a positive thing," she added. "I don't want anyone to feel sad."

Harriet Dorsey, the association's president, said Forsyth-Stephens will be helping with the transition of leadership and helping the organization in other capacities in the future.

"She's wonderful," Dorsey said. "We will really miss her. She is remaining in the community, and we are hoping to work with her in some other way."

Forsyth-Stephens said her new job will involve health care fund development at the national level. She will be working from her home in Blacksburg.

Zach Slagel, chairman of the clinic's board of directors, said in a news release that Forsyth-Stephens doubled the service volume of the clinic and made it "one of the most progressive and comprehensive free clinics in the commonwealth of Virginia."

During her tenure, Forsyth-Stephens built the association's pro bono counseling program, community education programs, and information and referral services. She also launched initiatives such as the Crisis Intervention Team -- a prebooking jail diversion program to prevent the inappropriate incarceration of people with mental illness -- and "The Bridge," a post-booking jail diversion program aimed at helping those with mental illness or substance abuse problems with their release and recovery.

In 2005, Forsyth-Stephens took on the additional task of leading the free clinic, a medical-service provider for the indigent, because she wanted to forge strong bonds between the two agencies. Last March, two mental health counselors were moved from the mental health association in Blacksburg to the clinic in Christiansburg. In December, the clinic also opened an office in Pearisburg. The clinic's board of directors also credits Forsyth-Stephens with stabilizing the dental program.

Patrick Halpern, associate director of the mental health association, will step into the executive director's position. Michelle Brauns will succeed her at the clinic.

"Both," Forsyth-Stephens said, "are solidly behind our advancement toward increased interoperability of the local health care safety net. The transition to new executive leadership should be virtually seamless as a result."